Chapter 1

My boyfriend and I were caught dating underage.

Our homeroom teacher summoned our parents, and my boyfriend’s mother immediately tore into me.

The gaunt middle-aged woman stood in front of me, spittle flying as she ranted.

“You’re barely grown and already know how to seduce men! My Shuhua is going to Tsinghua or Peking University one day!

“And what are you? Take a good look at yourself. You’ll be lucky to end up at some junior college before working on a factory line!

“Can you afford to ruin his future?”

I wiped her spit from my face and turned toward my boyfriend, Jiang Shuhua.

He lowered his head, avoided my eyes, and said nothing.

My mother snapped from beside me, “What did you say? You think good grades make him special? Maybe he’s nothing but a bookworm!”

That only made Jiang Shuhua’s mother more aggressive.

“Still better than your daughter scoring a hundred points across six subjects! What a useless thing! If you can’t discipline her, I will!”

She lunged forward to slap me, but my mother caught her arm.

The two women began wrestling, and the room descended into chaos.

Then the door suddenly opened.

Qiu Ting, our class study representative, walked in carrying a stack of test papers. Her gaze kept darting in our direction.

She had once spoken at a parents’ meeting as the top student in our grade, so Jiang Shuhua’s mother recognized her.

The sight of Qiu Ting made her even more vicious.

“Even if my son wanted a girlfriend, he’d never choose a worthless girl like yours! He’d choose the number-one student!”

Qiu Ting flushed slightly and stole a glance at Jiang Shuhua.

He looked up and met her eyes, then quickly looked away.

…

In the end, our homeroom teacher settled the farce by assigning equal blame to both sides.

Jiang Shuhua had excellent grades, but my family had money, and we had given our teacher plenty of gifts.

He could hardly be too harsh with me, so he merely offered a reminder.

“You’re students. Your studies should come first. Qiao Ru, from now on, you two need to focus on school.”

I could tell that deep down, he still sided with Jiang Shuhua.

After all, I ranked at the bottom of the grade while Jiang Shuhua ranked second. Anyone would assume I was the one dragging him down.

I pressed my lips together.

“I understand, sir.”

Our teacher gave us the afternoon off and told us to go home and calm down.

My mother led me out through the school gates without scolding me again.

When I saw the bloody scratches Jiang Shuhua’s mother had left on her face, my heart ached.

I had humiliated her.

Because my grades were so poor, she had spent a fortune getting me into this elite high school. She constantly gave teachers gifts and invited them to dinner, asking only that they look after me.

I was at the bottom of the grade. Even in an argument, she had no ground to stand on. A wealthy woman who normally carried herself with pride had been reduced to bowing and apologizing meekly to teachers.

The other woman’s son ranked second.

I ranked near last.

Of course everyone thought it was my fault.

People accused my mother of failing to raise me properly, and proud as she was, she could not argue back.

“Mom…”

I shuffled closer and opened my mouth, but no words came.

She looked back at me, exhaustion written across her face.

After a long moment, her eyes reddened.

“Could you please give your mother something to be proud of?”

That was the moment I finally understood heartbreak.

My mother was the strongest person I knew. In all my teenage years, I had never once seen her cry.

Yet now she was crying because someone had insulted her daughter—and because her daughter had achieved so little that she could not even fight back.

It felt as though a hand had closed around my heart and twisted.

Something inside me suddenly clicked.

I told myself I would make my mother proud.

I was going to get into Tsinghua, damn it!